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Storage Partaker B18 on AliExpress... 5x5 board with flat soDIMMs and 3xM.2!
- Thread starter thewizzard1
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- 5x5 aliexpress stx
You have yours on hand already?
Wow, it came with liquid metal? I'd never have expected that. Mine looked like regular old paste when I briefly took mine off to check contact. I'm not a fan of that stuff either even though it has some popularity among other enthusiasts. They might only be doing the liquid metal on the i9 configuration.
I need to take a look at mine more closely, to see if it has the copper slug. Mine might be all aluminum.
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Another fun note - Unit seems to work fine on a 12v supply. My supplier forgot to pack the normal supply (which I thought was 19v), and I've been happily putting along with my functionality tests with a 12V/7A adapter.
That's a big deal! Makes things way easier if it'll work fine with a 12v supply. Also saves me money since I already have a suitable 12v psu ?
@thewizzard1 How is yours running? Specifically I'm wondering if you've had a chance to look into performance / power and what clock rates you can hit.
I got busy and haven't progressed with my project - I still need to get a measurement for my m.2 to pcie cable.
I got busy and haven't progressed with my project - I still need to get a measurement for my m.2 to pcie cable.
@NateDawg72 5.0 with the stock cooler, replaced LM with AS5 on both edges. Have not had much time to play, but with a 1050ti on the m.2->PCIe x16 adapter, it runs great. I'll be watercooling it, and likely putting it into a special project, finalizing it with a 170mm 2060 on the nicer power/eGPU adapter R43SG.
Got it. 8750h gets the same current throttling around 60W, I haven't even seen thermal throttling happen yet. Cinebench R20 pushes multi into 3.3-3.5Ghz for mine.
I did realize that my work laptop has an i7-8750h too... It thermal throttles hard though. A lot more undervolting potential, -160mv vs -80mv of my 8750h board. Even with that big undervolt on the laptop it can't quite match the desktop board because it hits 100C so fast.
I did realize that my work laptop has an i7-8750h too... It thermal throttles hard though. A lot more undervolting potential, -160mv vs -80mv of my 8750h board. Even with that big undervolt on the laptop it can't quite match the desktop board because it hits 100C so fast.
My B18 has arrived (the i9) and I've been slowly playing around and figuring out what I want to build. I also grabbed an R43SG to hook up as an egpu. Works like it should, but the the R43SG board is quite large - just the pcb itself it is a good bit longer than the B18. My old expresscard EGPU board was way smaller.
Are there any other reasonable suggestions for EGPU boards, more size appropriate to the B18?
I see crazy things like this: M.2 Key M NGFF to PCI-E 4X Adapter Card . Something like that would keep things very small, but it's not clear to me how you would power it. I see it has a 4 pin connector for power, and I could probably hook that up to the row of sata pins on the b18, but afaik a pcie card can draw up to 75 watts so I can't imagine that actually working. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Also, it wasn't my original intent when I bought the thing, but after seeing how easily both the top and bottom of the case attach, I could easily see myself building a set of top-hats / bottom-hats instead of taking out the motherboard, and making an enclosure from scratch. Sort of like the Acer Revo.
See my quick mock up below. Just need to figure out how to fit a gpu in there..
Are there any other reasonable suggestions for EGPU boards, more size appropriate to the B18?
I see crazy things like this: M.2 Key M NGFF to PCI-E 4X Adapter Card . Something like that would keep things very small, but it's not clear to me how you would power it. I see it has a 4 pin connector for power, and I could probably hook that up to the row of sata pins on the b18, but afaik a pcie card can draw up to 75 watts so I can't imagine that actually working. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Also, it wasn't my original intent when I bought the thing, but after seeing how easily both the top and bottom of the case attach, I could easily see myself building a set of top-hats / bottom-hats instead of taking out the motherboard, and making an enclosure from scratch. Sort of like the Acer Revo.
See my quick mock up below. Just need to figure out how to fit a gpu in there..
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To answer my own question: here is a pretty good explanation of how one would wire up the m.2 to pcie x4 slot, power it and use it for a custom bottom plate:
https://ganon.club/index.php/2019/0...-without-thunderbolt-3-ngff-to-pcie-x4-riser/
https://ganon.club/index.php/2019/0...-without-thunderbolt-3-ngff-to-pcie-x4-riser/
I've been planning to use an adapter from ADT, an m.2 to pcie. They have some unique ones and the R43UL would probably work best for my project.
R43 PCIe x16 to M.2 NVMe Extension Cable
M.2 NVMe M Key to PCIe x16 Extender Adapter 90 Degree Angled For STX Motherboard Graphics Card Extension
www.adt.link
Question for @NateDawg72 - How do you plan to provide power to that board, or is power even needed at all if the GPU is being powered over the 6/8 pin power connector?
@leadwhite the 4 pin fan header looking thing is used for additional power. I'll be wiring that up to my PSU. I'm hoping most of the power will be drawn over the 6/8pin though.
@NateDawg72 You might want to double check that - Most fan headers are rated ~1A (12W), but PCIe slot power can be much higher (75W). My plan was to split 12v power at the jack - Tap into the jack socket on the PCB, and wire that line's 12V rail into the PCIe slot.
@thewizzard1 i don't think it is actually a fan header even though it looks similar (the plastic connector housing is different), so I don't know what it would be rated for and I can't find a datasheet from ADT... They show it being connected to a sata power connector.
They do state the product as being for connecting gpus to m.2 slots, isn't it a little odd if the power connector they added can't handle even a quarter of the expected power?
They do state the product as being for connecting gpus to m.2 slots, isn't it a little odd if the power connector they added can't handle even a quarter of the expected power?
Oh, no - Totally, m.2 connections *cannot* handle the PCIe 75W slot power. That's why they add on the molex connector - For input power.
I think the 5V rail will be fine ties to the board (I believe it's on the board next to the unpopulated SATA connector, opposite the screw, pin #1 [square]), but the 12v rail will NEED adequate power sourcing from a higher-power rail.
Yeah I didn't say otherwise, of course m.2 can't power it itself. All I'm saying is they provided a connector already.
It isn't a big deal either way because if they didn't properly spec their adapter that they say is made for GPUs, I'll just desolder the connector and wire it up directly.
It isn't a big deal either way because if they didn't properly spec their adapter that they say is made for GPUs, I'll just desolder the connector and wire it up directly.
@NateDawg72 Oh, I kinda misunderstood what you were trying to do. The m.2 to PCIe adapter's power plug is fine, I was talking about what spot that power connector (the molex) was drawing power - I don't think the b18 can supply ~75W of 12v anywhere but the power input connector.